AGRIBUSINESS: Supreme Court Rules to Protect Intellectual Property

In a unanimous ruling – the Supreme Court supported the protection of intellectual property in the Bowman versus Monsanto case Monday, by saying the principle of patent exhaustion doesn’t permit a farmer to reproduce patented seeds through planting and harvesting without the patent holder’s permission.

Monsanto Executive Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel David Snively says the ruling ensures longstanding principles of patent law apply to breakthrough 21st Century technologies that are central to meeting growing demands of this planet and its people.

American Soybean Association President Danny Murphy says this ruling has ensured America’s soybean farmers can continue to rely on the technological innovation that has pushed American agriculture to the forefront of the effort to feed a global population projected to pass 9-billion by 2050.